Product specifications
nanotron swarm bee ER; MN01SWBER
Radio technology: UWB
The swarm bee ER belongs to the swarm bee family. With its UWB technology it offers enhanced resolution down to 30 cm. It is able to work autonomously or host controlled. It can be controlled via a host microcontroller or via the air interface through its comprehensive swarm API V3.xx.
Ranging and Communication Engine
The swarm bee ER features a low power, yet powerful ranging and communication engine. It automates the necessary sequence of steps for Symmetrical Double-Sided Two Way Ranging (SDS-TWR) patented by nanotron [1]. After time of flight measurements (TOF) including an exchange of information with the targeted radio node the actual distance between the nodes is returned to the host application.
The blink that the swarm bee ER broadcasts is detected and utilized by nanotron’s RTLS platform solution to determine the physical location of the module.
Communication between swarm bee ER nodes is possible during ranging or independent of ranging.
RSSI Detection
A received signal strength indicator (RSSI) allows to estimate the signal strength of incoming UWB signals from other swarm bee ER nodes. It is derived from different internal values and is a pseudo RSSI.
swarm API
swarm bee ER runs V3.xx swarm API (application programming interface). This API is compatible within the swarm bee family. It has a common interface for ranging, messaging and sensing. The only differences are the commands and responses which are specific to the radio technology.
Movement and Temperature Detection
Movement and temperature changes can be detected by the on-board MEMS sensor, which is accessible by the host application. When the module is used in conjunction with a fixed location system, those data are also available to the nanoLES server interface. The MEMS can further be used to save additional power by waking-up the module by detecting movements. Moreover, the blink rate can be adjusted depending on whether the module is in movement or not.
Power Management
The swarm bee ER enables power saving functionality to go to sleep and only wake-up periodically for a short time in order to save battery power. As explained in section 3.2.4 the MEMS can also be used to save additional power. The underlying power management concept enables cooperation between the radios of a larger swarm even if they sleep most of the time. Depending on the configuration the battery voltage can be transmitted in a blink or requested by API command.
-- nanotron Technologies product --
